Contribution of Li-Ion Batteries to the Environmental Impact of Electric Vehicles

Abstract

Electric vehicle production and disposalA typical middle-class passenger car from ecoinvent v2.0, represented by a Golf A4 (petrol, 55kW) is used as a base for the LCI [1]. This dataset originates on data from "Life Cycle Inventory for the Golf A4", a "Volkswagen" report from the year 2000 [2]. All sub-components constituting the ICE drive train were subtracted from the ecoinvent dataset, leaving the LCI of a motor less vehicle glider. Thus, two new LCI datasets for a Glider and an ICE drive train were generated which combined match the Golf A4 (Table S1 to S3). A new LCI dataset for an electric drive train was generated using data from. The components to build an LCI for an electric drive train are selected in such a way, that the same maximal permanent power of 55 kW followed from the ICE drive train. The LCI for the entire BEV finally consists of the LCI of the glider, the electric drive train and the Li-ion battery.Scheme S1. The model of an internal combustion vehicle (ICE Vehicle) and a battery vehicle.

Eco‐Efficiency Analysis of a Lithium‐Ion Battery Waste Hierarchy Inspired by Circular Economy

“…The baseline battery technology analyzed was lithium manganese oxide (LMO) cathode chemistry, commonly used in blended cathode materials of leading BEV and PHEV batteries (Lu et al. ) and previously characterized by LCAs (e.g., Notter et al ; Dunn et al. ; Amarakoon et al.…”

“…Electrical performance is analyzed using a conservative approach of testing whole battery packs by charging once to 70% battery capacity (Notter et al. ).…”

Life cycle assessment of PEM FC applications: electric mobility and μ-CHP

“…59,83 The difference disappeared View Article Online because of new inventory data which are related to disposal of tailings from metal mining (metals used for the battery and electric drivetrain) and disposal of spoils from fossil mining (lignite used for power production in the European electricity mix). Table 6 shows results from break-even analysis considering the fuel consumption of the ICV with the BEV and the FCEV.…”

Comment on “The significance of Li‐ion batteries in electric vehicle life‐cycle energy and emissions and recycling's role in its reduction” in Energy & Environmental Science

“…We fear that their presentation of industry data from our analysis (Ellingsen et al ) may lead to confusion and misinterpretation, and we find that their adaptation of our results is not entirely consistent. This may lead to the unsubstantiated conclusion that the incongruity between the manufacturing energies published in the literature (Zackrisson et al ; Notter et al ; Majeau‐Bettez et al ; Dunn et al ; Ellingsen et al ; Li et al ; Dunn et al ) can be explained merely by differing assumptions on facility throughput.…”

“…Dunn and colleagues () present a detailed description of the major stages of battery assembly and a thorough review of the available literature on energy requirements. Three approaches are identified that lead to widely varying estimates of manufacturing energy requirements: bottom‐up process modeling (1 to 5 megajoules per kg [MJ/kg] battery) (Notter et al ; Dunn et al ; Li et al ); top‐down attribution of facility energy use (74 to 80 MJ/kg battery) (Zackrisson et al ; Majeau‐Bettez et al ; Rydh and Sandén ); and our own collection of “real‐world” direct energy consumption data (Ellingsen et al ). The latter was obtained in a joint study with an industry partner, who purchases their battery cells from a supplier operating on the international market.…”